Everyone needs to take a DEEEEEP breath, and hold it | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Everyone needs to take a DEEEEEP breath, and hold it

HuskyHawk

The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
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How can we teach Samson to rebound
I had the highest of hopes for him, but he just doesn't have the hands. He has everything else really, just not the hands. I wonder if it impacts his shooting as well. It affects the passes to him, rebounding, he simply cannot grab a basketball cleanly on a consistent basis. It's baffling.
 
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On offense there is no leader of the team right now. Everyone is trying to get it done but it's a mishmash of lineups. The 19 turnovers vs A@M Commerce were concerning. Memphis disrupted our offense and we almost survived it. Colorado came back as we misfired often and had to finish without our 2 centers. Tonight is a chance to get some confidence back. Need to play all out.
 

Dutch Boyd

A fine place to live
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We have a young team that will get better as roles are better defined.
Not sure all the throwing in the towel, this early in the season, makes no sense.
I have spent a good part of the last two days. blocking all the UConn haters on social media, there seems to be a lot of them.
Completely agree. I actually left a couple groups on social media because our fans are as bad as Kentucky. One particular bald guy kept bashing. I’m like, why so miserable? UConn didn’t make you lose your hair, you did!
 

huskeynut

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I have purposely stayed away from the post game threads. Same way I stay out of the chat room during games. The level of angst is just crazy. Too many couch coaches on this board.

Hurley and company have work to do. No one should be surprised. Four starters are gone. All impact players. It will take time to get it going. Won't list some of the obvious needs, but it will get fixed. Hurley did not become a crazy, incompetant coach because the team lost two games in Maui.
 

August_West

Conscience do cost
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We will be ok. It was pretty easy to see this coming. The Memphis loss at least. I was ok with it. I admit the Colorado loss left me a tad surprised. We can't play worse. If we continue to play like this we will continue to lose to really any team in the top 125 , but we can't play worse. It's been a while since I remember feeling like we can never get a stop. It just looks so easy (and is so easy) for other teams to score on us. They are able to get whatever they want. They want to run a set for an open 3? They get it. They want to isolate down low and bang to the rim? They get that. We offer little resistance other than fouling. We are totally lost on the defensive end, I haven't seen a worse high major defense in all the teams I've watched this year. The effort is there. The intelligence isn't. Everything is a scramble.

Speaking of fouling. I don't want to hear anything about the refs, including, and especially, from Hurley. I love coach Hurley, but if he doesn't realize that he made his bed with referees I don't know what to tell him. Were there bad calls in these games that could've gone the other way? Sure. It still isn't in the top 10 reasons for either loss. We were out played.

Our offense isn't quite as atrocious as our defense but that isn't very good either. We are getting some good looks. But it's often disjointed. I'm afraid the staff is a little too in love with the deserved lauding of our offense the last couple years, and it seems this particular team at this particular point with these particular pieces is not ready to run the advanced calculus equations needed to get a hoop. Sometimes (as our opponents have proven) the best play is the simplest one. We look like a monkey trying to hump a football when teams switch 1-5, and if that is all it takes to blow up our fabled sets, and we dont have a counter, it is going to be a long year. the counter to that is to have guys take it off the bounce and make them pay for the overplay, but we continue to try to run through sets that are already blown up. That needs to change NOW. And you can't spell NOW without NOWell ;) . I understand the complicated reasons why it isn't happening, but I do believe that any team that is sitting their best PG on the bench (and a top 35 in the country recruit) is possibly making a mistake. If we are getting this type of play out of our PG spot: Mahaney has been atrocious on both ends, and Hass has played with a lot of heart but is making some head scratching turnovers. Nowell being the PG of the future might as well be now because while he will have some growing pains too it wont be any worse than what we currently have, and the upside of who is as a player is much higher than what we've been doing or what we would get.

This can (and I believe will) absolutely turn around. We will be a force by the end of February. We have too much talent. In fact right now at this point in the season I think that is actually a big part of the problem. We have too much talent. Too many pieces. Trying to mix and match all of them together to this point has brought on a "jack of all trades, master of none" scenario. The staff is going to soon need to settle on some definitive rotations and let them meld together so we can have some floor cohesiveness on both ends. Especially the defensive one. There is a lot of room for improvement. Luckily we have players that will improve and the best staff in the country to make it happen. Lets hope it starts sooner rather than later.
 
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I'm afraid the staff is a little too in love with the deserved lauding of our offense the last couple years, and it seems this particular team at this particular point with these particular pieces is not ready to run the advanced calculus equations needed to get a hoop
Completely agree here. I would extend that take to everything beyond the offense.

The staff and the returners especially AK have approached this season as a continuation of the championship teams. That is admirable on principle, and hell that mindset worked for last year's team. But at this point that super intense approach needs to be dialed back to fit THIS year's team.
 
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Something definitely looks intentional with the refereeing. If I’m Dan I stay ahead of it and start pulling some Belichek and hit pressers by saying refs are doing their best, great crew, yada and move on. He’s at a point now where any tantrums or post game comments are not going to work in his favor. Show some control, get an extra meditation in. It’s really becoming a bad look especially in today’s world of social media, especially when you’re losing. You don’t want video of yourself flopping around on the sideline going viral.

Last year the team was so good it didn’t matter. Going forward now that playing field has leveled he can’t take on referring disadvantages as every point will matter.

Separately feels like he may also have to rethink the puritan recruiting strategy. Need to go get some quick twitch athletes and dogs to complement the choir boys. Calhoun kinda kids. This past portal season was a giant whiff, over-pride on being selective and maintaining culture. You can’t win without talent and a balanced roster, no matter how great you think your system is. Last year’s team had insane talent, two guys starting in the NBA already and other two getting minutes. That group was an anomaly.

Still hopeful for this year and gonna enjoy every minute of it. This staff has to do some real work this year, which will be fun to watch. We’ll see if all the “genius” accolades were warranted. And in some ways, could see the team better off backing into the tourney with slow growth being a better position than as a high seed as perhaps a healthier narrative for this group.
I'm sure Big Jim had a word or two with Danny. Like, hang tough and pick your spots carefully when you challenge the Little Caesars with the striped shirts.
 

Rico444

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I don't think we're bad, and I don't think there's any reason to overreact. I do think everyone needs to readjust their expectations. 48 hours ago I thought we were one of the national title favorites. Now I think it's clear that the overall goal for the season should be making the tournament. Maybe we improve and get back into that title hunt, but from what I've seen our defense needs to drastically improve before we can even think about making a tournament run.
 

Mr. French

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On offense there is no leader of the team right now. Everyone is trying to get it done but it's a mishmash of lineups. The 19 turnovers vs A@M Commerce were concerning. Memphis disrupted our offense and we almost survived it. Colorado came back as we misfired often and had to finish without our 2 centers. Tonight is a chance to get some confidence back. Need to play all out.

This is true. I think it will take time for guys to get their roles defined, and that ONLY happens by playing, learning, and sometimes losing.
 

Mr. French

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We will be ok. It was pretty easy to see this coming. The Memphis loss at least. I was ok with it. I admit the Colorado loss left me a tad surprised. We can't play worse. If we continue to play like this we will continue to lose to really any team in the top 125 , but we can't play worse. It's been a while since I remember feeling like we can never get a stop. It just looks so easy (and is so easy) for other teams to score on us. They are able to get whatever they want. They want to run a set for an open 3? They get it. They want to isolate down low and bang to the rim? They get that. We offer little resistance other than fouling. We are totally lost on the defensive end, I haven't seen a worse high major defense in all the teams I've watched this year. The effort is there. The intelligence isn't. Everything is a scramble.

Speaking of fouling. I don't want to hear anything about the refs, including, and especially, from Hurley. I love coach Hurley, but if he doesn't realize that he made his bed with referees I don't know what to tell him. Were there bad calls in these games that could've gone the other way? Sure. It still isn't in the top 10 reasons for either loss. We were out played.

Our offense isn't quite as atrocious as our defense but that isn't very good either. We are getting some good looks. But it's often disjointed. I'm afraid the staff is a little too in love with the deserved lauding of our offense the last couple years, and it seems this particular team at this particular point with these particular pieces is not ready to run the advanced calculus equations needed to get a hoop. Sometimes (as our opponents have proven) the best play is the simplest one. We look like a monkey trying to hump a football when teams switch 1-5, and if that is all it takes to blow up our fabled sets, and we dont have a counter, it is going to be a long year. the counter to that is to have guys take it off the bounce and make them pay for the overplay, but we continue to try to run through sets that are already blown up. That needs to change NOW. And you can't spell NOW without NOWell ;) . I understand the complicated reasons why it isn't happening, but I do believe that any team that is sitting their best PG on the bench (and a top 35 in the country recruit) is possibly making a mistake. If we are getting this type of play out of our PG spot: Mahaney has been atrocious on both ends, and Hass has played with a lot of heart but is making some head scratching turnovers. Nowell being the PG of the future might as well be now because while he will have some growing pains too it wont be any worse than what we currently have, and the upside of who is as a player is much higher than what we've been doing or what we would get.

This can (and I believe will) absolutely turn around. We will be a force by the end of February. We have too much talent. In fact right now at this point in the season I think that is actually a big part of the problem. We have too much talent. Too many pieces. Trying to mix and all of them together to this point as brought on a "jack of all trades, master of none" scenario. The staff is going to soon need to settle on some definitive rotations and let them meld together so we can have some floor cohesiveness on both ends. Especially the defensive one. There is a lot of room for improvement. Luckily we have players that will improve and the best staff in the country to make it happen. Lets hope it starts sooner rather than later.

Well said! I’ve been saying versions of this for 2 days now, but haven’t had the time to express it so eloquently.
 
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We will be ok. It was pretty easy to see this coming. The Memphis loss at least. I was ok with it. I admit the Colorado loss left me a tad surprised. We can't play worse. If we continue to play like this we will continue to lose to really any team in the top 125 , but we can't play worse. It's been a while since I remember feeling like we can never get a stop. It just looks so easy (and is so easy) for other teams to score on us. They are able to get whatever they want. They want to run a set for an open 3? They get it. They want to isolate down low and bang to the rim? They get that. We offer little resistance other than fouling. We are totally lost on the defensive end, I haven't seen a worse high major defense in all the teams I've watched this year. The effort is there. The intelligence isn't. Everything is a scramble.

Speaking of fouling. I don't want to hear anything about the refs, including, and especially, from Hurley. I love coach Hurley, but if he doesn't realize that he made his bed with referees I don't know what to tell him. Were there bad calls in these games that could've gone the other way? Sure. It still isn't in the top 10 reasons for either loss. We were out played.

Our offense isn't quite as atrocious as our defense but that isn't very good either. We are getting some good looks. But it's often disjointed. I'm afraid the staff is a little too in love with the deserved lauding of our offense the last couple years, and it seems this particular team at this particular point with these particular pieces is not ready to run the advanced calculus equations needed to get a hoop. Sometimes (as our opponents have proven) the best play is the simplest one. We look like a monkey trying to hump a football when teams switch 1-5, and if that is all it takes to blow up our fabled sets, and we dont have a counter, it is going to be a long year. the counter to that is to have guys take it off the bounce and make them pay for the overplay, but we continue to try to run through sets that are already blown up. That needs to change NOW. And you can't spell NOW without NOWell ;) . I understand the complicated reasons why it isn't happening, but I do believe that any team that is sitting their best PG on the bench (and a top 35 in the country recruit) is possibly making a mistake. If we are getting this type of play out of our PG spot: Mahaney has been atrocious on both ends, and Hass has played with a lot of heart but is making some head scratching turnovers. Nowell being the PG of the future might as well be now because while he will have some growing pains too it wont be any worse than what we currently have, and the upside of who is as a player is much higher than what we've been doing or what we would get.

This can (and I believe will) absolutely turn around. We will be a force by the end of February. We have too much talent. In fact right now at this point in the season I think that is actually a big part of the problem. We have too much talent. Too many pieces. Trying to mix and all of them together to this point as brought on a "jack of all trades, master of none" scenario. The staff is going to soon need to settle on some definitive rotations and let them meld together so we can have some floor cohesiveness on both ends. Especially the defensive one. There is a lot of room for improvement. Luckily we have players that will improve and the best staff in the country to make it happen. Lets hope it starts sooner rather than later.
Agree with all of this.

Hass has been solid/good, he had 5 turnovers against East Texas A&M but that was a throwaway game they were all disinterested in. He's averaging 8 points and 5 assists and he's been our best defensive player.

Hurley's Midas Touch from the last couple years is finally showing chinks in the armour. He turned down the best three point shooter in the country Koby Brea who was begging to come here and instead went with Aidan Mahaney who Hurley was going to turn into a point guard. Brea is shooting 68% from three and scoring 15 points per game as we wasted preseason and the first 5 games on the Mahaney starting point guard experiment. Fortunately it's not too late to go with Hass/Ahmad or Ahmad/Hass at point but this hurt our early season development of team chemistry, it's got Mahaney seemingly questioning everything right now and we didn't take a stud who wanted to come here.

It's now the 7th game of the season with a bunch of big boy opponents coming up. The starting 5 and 8-9 rotation should be locked down by now and it's not yet locked down.
 

Dove

Part of the 2%, but 100% wood.
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You filled out the ESPN Pizza Hut Challenge with Duke beating UConn in the finals.

You were, always have been and always will be a yellow bellied traitor.
St. Peter has already given me a pass. In Heaven, there is a pair of custom-made satin pants waiting for me.
 
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Honestly it's much better to find out who you really are early in the season then late.

I would have preferred the wine, but sometimes a team can lose it's edge by being complacent.

We need to find a way to win today.

Hopefully the team regroups and does some soul searching.

There's enough talent to go the distance despite the recent losses.
 
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Everything so far has been an anti-mojo kick to the scalitos:
  • Alex calling out fans for attendance, that aged like fine wine.
  • AD raising ticket prices and removing Forever Seats
  • Hurley and the fouls
  • People trashing Big East for its ineptitude, begging to be open-face slapped by the Big 12 again
To Coach Cooley’s point ( @Dove and @August_West too) we have most definitely become arrogant and spoiled as a fan base and as a program. This team needs serious fine tuning, like most non-wagon teams. Will Hurley adapt or be a stubborn/arrogant coach?

Things I know:
  • If you’re trashing the team out of spite because you’re a bandwagon fan, leave. We don’t need you, and neither does Dan and the team.
  • @temery is right - stop overreacting. Dig in, this is gonna be a sicko year that requires the mojo.
  • This team will perform better as an underdog.
Post of the week.

To add to the anti-mojo list:
  • players over-celebrating everything this early in the season
  • constant flexing during open practice (looks great for promos, but literally any D1 team can do this)
  • Extreme hyper-focus on 3-pt shooting as if it were all that's needed to dominate
To Do List:
  • Dump the attitude that expects this team to be a perpetual Kansas every year. We are not, have never been, and never will be that.
  • Coach + Players + Fans all digest the humble-pie, return to underrated underdog status where we thrive.
  • Find the team's identity on defense and offence
  • Let the staff do what they do and outwork the competition on playmaking
  • Outwork the competition in practice
  • Learn how to win close games, cause we have the talent and heart to do it
  • Qualify for the tournament
  • Win the conference
  • Win the conference tournament
  • Win the last 6 games in a row
 
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I'll get back to you tonight with further instructions.
Tried it. Lasted about a minute. Passed out and fell. Hit my head and got a huge gash on my head. Blood everywhere. Rushed to the emergency room. They're telling me they need to keep me overnight and I can't watch the game tonight. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
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Post of the week.

To add to the anti-mojo list:
  • players over-celebrating everything this early in the season
  • constant flexing during open practice (looks great for promos, but literally any D1 team can do this)
  • Extreme hyper-focus on 3-pt shooting as if it were all that's needed to dominate
To Do List:
  • Dump the attitude that expects this team to be a perpetual Kansas every year. We are not, have never been, and never will be that.
  • Coach + Players + Fans all digest the humble-pie, return to underrated underdog status where we thrive.
  • Find the team's identity on defense and offence
  • Let the staff do what they do and outwork the competition on playmaking
  • Outwork the competition in practice
  • Learn how to win close games, cause we have the talent and heart to do it
  • Qualify for the tournament
  • Win the conference
  • Win the conference tournament
  • Win the last 6 games in a row
Completely disagree with your To do List first and second bullet points.

It's nonsense and the little engine that could from some in this fanbase drives me nuts.
 
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How can we teach Samson to rebound

He's had (IMO) the best rebpunding coach in D1 for 3 years. He isn't going to get it. The issue is between the ears.

We know who he is. We've been very successful with him having a role on the team before. Now it's time to make a plan for that to happen again.

Samson's play style is simply not built to be a starting 25mpg big. He's a sparkplug, a very good one.
 
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My first year teaching I had a student with special needs that had been in the bathroom for a long time. So our special ed teacher popped in the bathroom to make sure everything was ok. He called into the stall asking if the boy was alright and the boy called back “I’m draining my emotions.” Some people on the boneyard need to step back, take a few minutes to drain their emotions, and then maybe see the world with a different perspective.
 
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Completely disagree with your To do List first and second bullet points.

It's nonsense and the little engine that could from some in this fanbase drives me nuts.
It's not about being the the ones who punch above their weight. It's about having a non-entitled attitude.
 
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I had the highest of hopes for him, but he just doesn't have the hands. He has everything else really, just not the hands. I wonder if it impacts his shooting as well. It affects the passes to him, rebounding, he simply cannot grab a basketball cleanly on a consistent basis. It's baffling.
The puzzling part of this is Samson handles most of the lob passes to him cleanly so not sure if it’s his hands. Perhaps it’s more of a concentration focus or trepidation on this part rebounding in traffic.
 

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